Authorities say a burning car that was pushed into a ditch less than a week ago sparked the ongoing blaze. One of the largest wildfires in California historyAs of Monday, the Park Fire had grown to more than 368,000 acres, making it the state’s sixth-largest fire ever, according to officials.
Cal Fire’s latest report Monday morning said the Park Fire has grown to 368,256 acres and is 12 percent contained. It’s about 575 square miles, nearly half the size of Rhode Island, more than 12 times the size of San Francisco County and slightly larger than the city of Los Angeles.
According to CalFire, the Park Fire now ranks between 2020’s Creek Fire, which has burned 379,895 acres, and the same year’s LNU Lightning Complex Fire, which has burned 363,220 acres. The August Complex Fire, also in 2020, has burned more than 1 million acres, making it the largest fire in state history.
Click to enlarge
The Park Fire is the sixth largest wildfire in California history, affecting Butte, Tehama, Shasta and Plumas counties. This reality highlights the urgent need for wildfire preparedness. Please keep your family safe by signing up for emergency alerts and visiting… pic.twitter.com/DTweLgOGF4
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) July 29, 2024
Four counties are affected: Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama. Ongoing park fireMore than 100 buildings have been destroyed, according to officials. More than 4,000 structures remain at risk from the fires, but so far there have been no injuries or deaths among civilians or firefighters, authorities said.
The fire exploded across tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, of acres over the course of several days in what Cal Fire described as “rapid growth,” but cooler temperatures on Sunday eased some of the fire’s aggressive movement, allowing rescue crews to “actively fight the fire outside of national forest lands.” But there was also less smoke Sunday, and “warmer weather around the fire led to increased fire activity,” the agency said.
A fire broke out Fire Tornado It reached Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is currently closed, after the park announced on Facebook on Saturday that “it’s been three years since the Dixie Fire ravaged much of the eastern part of the state,” but that the blaze is approaching its western edge.
“Staff are working hard to save historical artifacts housed in the 1927 Loomis Museum,” the park said in a statement.
Christopher Appel and his brother-in-law Bruce Hay CBS Sacramento Their families have lived in the Cohasset area for decades, and they say survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 84 people in the same area where the Park Fire is burning, live on adjacent property.
“Everything is on fire,” Appel said.
“I tried to run,” said Hay, adding that he suffered burns to his left arm during the evacuation.
“If I hadn’t rolled down the window to look in the rearview mirror, I wouldn’t have been burned,” he said. “I was right in the middle of the accident, trying to put my car in reverse.”
Julie YaboThe former CBS Los Angeles news anchor and reporter watched her home burn in real time via her own security camera footage.
“Our house was destroyed, but their house is fine,” she said of the devastation in her neighborhood. “I can see their house next door is destroyed.”
She said she doesn’t think the impact of the loss has yet to be fully understood.
“I feel almost numb,” she told CBS Sacramento. “It doesn’t seem real.”
more
